Value of Football Cards

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How to appraise & determine NFL sports cards value. Pricing football trading card

Collecting football cards is just one of the most popular hobbies in the sports industry. 

Though baseball cards collecting is considered number one, football trading cards do have a favorable share in the sports collectibles industry.

On appraising football cards prices

Coming up with an accurate football sports cards pricing requires knowledge about the football card market and economy, skill in keeping up with the changes in card values, and intuition in evaluating several factors that affect prices of the football cards.

This article will show you some ways on how to get the probable price of football cards.

1. Compare football card values from different online sports cards stores

It can be difficult to determine the exact football cards prices.  By comparing the market value of football cards from different online sports card shops, you will be able to get the card’s price range.

For example, a 2002 SP Authentic #104 Peyton Manning in near mint condition is sold for $3.60 in Syndicate Sports Cards while it is $2.94 in All Time Sportscards. Based on these examples, you can say that prices of the same type and condition of card can actually vary.

2. Refer to football card price guides like Beckett and Tuff Stuff

The two most reliable sports cards price guide in the collecting hobby are Beckett and Tuff Stuff.

Beckett Media

Beckett has been in the industry since 1948. The company is an expert in publishing sports and collectibles magazines.  They also offer sports cards grading services and is considered one of the trusted names in sports card authentication.

Beckett Football Magazine has been a necessary resource material for many serious sports hobbyists. It covers a wide variety of topics from tips about collecting football cards, reviews of new card sets, and most importantly, the football cards price guide. For more accessible and updated football card values and online price guides, visit the Beckett website.

Tuff Stuff

Tuff Stuff is another big name that caters to the publication of sports collectible digests.  Their price guide is said to be the most comprehensive and trusted football card reference found on the market. The long and detailed price listing of Tuff Stuff can be viewed online.

Tuff Stuff publishes Standard Catalog of Football cards wherein you could read about the definition, grade, and history of the football trading cards and their manufacturing company.

3. Go to professional sports cards appraisers

Vintage football cards and other valuable sports cards must be professionally appraised.  There are online collectors who sell their football cards online without really knowing the real value of the cards. There could be circumstances that you underestimate the price of the collectible card.

An old woman in California almost sold a rare, antique sports card for $10-$20 on eBay.  She had it pulled out from the online auction when noticing a lot of eBay users getting interested with the card.  When she had the card professionally appraised, it turned out that the sports card value was $64,073.

Factors that influence football cards values

Here are some factors that influence football card prices.  This list will be helpful in determining football card values yourself.

1. Subject of the football trading card

The subject or the player is probably the first crucial thing to consider in a football card value.  The player featured usually sets the demand for a sports card.  Football Hall of Famers and players significant to football history generally correspond to an expensive football card price.

In the 1948 Bowman football card set, #22 Sammy Baugh was valued $2,495 while the #98 Fred Enke was priced at $19. Sammy Baugh was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Enke, on the other hand, was not as famous.

2. Condition of the sports card

A football trading card with many signs of deterioration like tear, scratches on the surface, blemishes, and stains is usually cheap. Grading is the process that will evaluate the quality or condition of the football card using a standard (usually a scale of 1-10 with 10 as the highest). A 1933 Goudey Sport Kings #6 Jim Thorpe with a grade of 3 was sold for $659. The same card with a grade of 5 was priced at $1,002.

 

3. Age of the football trading cards

The most expensive football card is a vintage sports card issued in 1935.  Antique football cards can be more valuable than new cards because the older cards feature many firsts in the football history – first Hall of Famers, first championship games, etc.

More so, new football card sets are often mass produced and are easily bought and sold in the market. A 1948 Leaf #18 Harry Gilmer card graded 5 is worth $29 while a 2000 Upper Deck Correll Buckhalter card with a grade of 9.5 is priced $25.  Notice how the 2000 card being cheaper despite of its almost perfect condition.

4. Rarity of the collectible football card

Rarity of a football card is closely related with the age factor. Rare football cards can be valuable because they are hard to find. Antique football trading cards can be scarce because many of them may have been destroyed or lost as time goes by.  Serious sports cards collectors would readily spend big amounts just to own scarce football cards.

The most valuable football card

The most valuable football card in the sports card collecting hobby is the 1935 National Chicle #34 Bronko Nagurski. In an auction in 2008, an example of this card with a grade 8 was sold for $66,354.

Nagurski is a legend in the football history.  He was one of the original members of the National Football League Hall of Fame in 1963.  In his football career, he was considered as unstoppable, even referred to as always “charging like bull”. Bronko Nagurski ranked number 35 in the Sporting News 1999 list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

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Learn more about the rarest & most valuable sports cards in the cards collecting market

Rarity is a factor that greatly increases the sports cards values. Generally speaking, rare sports cards are the ones with the highest price in the market provided that they are in demand by many sports memorabilia collectors.

Here are the top ten most valuable sports cards of all time. The list is composed of vintage baseball cards which are significant in the sports trading cards history and remain to be sought-after even by modern sports cards collectors.

1. 1954 Bowman #66A Ted Williams

The 1954 Bowman #66A Ted Williams baseball card is considered to be one of the most important sports trading cards produced after World War II. Williams is famed as among the greatest hitters in baseball.

When Bowman, a manufacturer of bubble gum a

nd cards, produced a set of baseball cards in 1954, Major League Baseball (MLB) left fielder Ted Williams was lined up for the #66 card. However, the card was pulled early from the production since Williams was supposed to be under an exclusive contract with Topps (another top maker of trading cards) during such time.

Still, few examples of the card made it to the packs and were sold. The #66 slate in the set had to be replaced by a Jim Piersall (center fielder in MLB) card and it was termed by sports collectors as #66B with Williams’ card as the #66A.

Because of this event, the 1954 Bowman #66A card is indeed a rare sports card. An SGC (Sportscard Guaranty) 95 graded 1954 Bowman Ted Williams #66A sports card was priced $13,500 in cheap-baseball-cards.com.

2. 1951 Bowman #305 Willie Mays

Willie Mays or popularly known as The Say Hey Kid has the title of being the greatest all around player. During his baseball career he made 660 homers and 3,238 ball hits (he was the first to ever reach 500 homeruns and 3000 hits). He was also granted 12 Gold Glove and 2 Most Valuable Player awards and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1979.

The 1951 Bowman Willie Mays #305 is the only recognized rookie card of Mays making it one of the rarest sports cards and most exceptional rookie cards. It is considered very valuable for many long-time sports collectors. This card is among the best sports cards:

A PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) 9 graded 1951 Bowman #305 Willie Mays card was sold in Memory Lane Incorporated for $73,000. High-graded and well-centered #305 Bowman is very hard to find.

3. 1938 Goudey Heads Up R 323 #274 Joe DiMaggio

The 1938 Goudey Heads Up R 323 set has featured two Joe DiMaggio –

cards #250 and #274. The #250 only bears Joe’s image while the 1938 Goudey #274 Joe DiMaggio card has drawings surrounding his picture. The #274 card is harder to locate nowadays than the other DiMaggio card in the set. This perhaps explains why the latter is not as expensive an

d desired by collectors.

Popularly referred to as Joltin’ Joe, this sports star is one of the so-called New York Yankee legends together with Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Lou Gehrig. In the Sports Market Report price guide in 2005, a 1938 Goudey #274 Joe DiMaggio card cost $45,000.

4. 1933 Goudey #53 Babe Ruth

A 1933 Goudey #53 Babe Ruth is a very scarce sports card; you could hardly find samples of it from online auctions. Also known as the Yellow Ruth, the #53 card is one of the four in demand Ruth cards in the 1933 Goudey set – three others were the #144, #181, and #149.

The 1933 Goudey set of sports trading cards are the first

cards ever issued by the Goudey Gum Company and is considered to be among the top three important card sets in the sports collecting hobby. It featured many baseball legends and Hall of Famers.

One of the most expensive sports cards, a 1933 Goudey #53 Babe Ruth PSA NM-MT 8 was sold for $43,614 in 2005

5. 1949 Leaf #8 Leroy "Satchel" Paige

The 1949 Leaf #8 Leroy “Satchel” Paige card is one of only three cards produced during his baseball career (with the entire 1949 Leaf sports card set very rarely found in good condition). The other two were issued by bubble gum companies Bowman and Topps in 1949 and 1953 respectively. This Leaf Satchel card is well-known as the toughest, post-war rare sports card there is.

Satchel Paige was the oldest man to debut in the major leagues at the age of 42. New York Yankee icon, Joe DiMaggio called him “th

e best and fastest pitcher I’ve ever faced.” Paige was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the year 1971.

The 1949 Leaf #8 Leroy Satchel Paige card was truly a valuable sports card at $82,000 in the April 2005 Sports Market Report price guide.

6. 1914 E-145-1 Cracker Jack #30 Ty Cobb

A real desirable sports card for passionate collectors is the 1914 E-145-1 Cracker Jack #30 Ty Cobb. The eye appeal of the card is excellent with the striking picture of Cobb emphasized by the deep red background. Since 1914 Cracker Jack sports cards are inserted in caramel coated products, it can be hard to find them without stains. Stains and other blemishes (aside from print defects) can decrease the card quality.

Tyrus Raymond “Ty” Cobb was regarded as the best player of the dead ball era (a term to describe the period in baseball between 1900 and the coming of Babe Ruth; this age is distinct for its low-scoring games and lack of homeruns).

In 2005, the Cracker Jack #30 Ty Cobb card was valued $60,000.

7. 1914 E145-1 Cracker Jack #103 Joe Jackson

The 1914 E 145-1 Cracker Jack Joe Jackson #103 is a unique sports card in the card collecting world. Unlike the majority of the most valuable baseball cards of all time, Joe Jackson was not a Hall of Famer and became more popular because of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. It was said that he was bribed to lose a game in the World Series. The controversy had led people to even buy more Joe Jackson collectibles.

A sample of the Cracker Jack #103 Joe Jackson card PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator grading services) was priced in eBay for $65,000. A 1914 Cracker Jack set that included the #103 Joe Jackson and #30 Ty Cobb cards was sold for $960,000 in an auction in 2008.

8. 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle

The 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle is one of the greatest, if not indeed the greatest, sports cards classics produced in the post-war era (coming from the most important card set in the industry).

Other than his remarkable batting statistics, his love for the game and for his fans has made him very well-loved as well. Mickey Mantle holds the records for most World Series home runs and had won three American League MVP titles. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.

Memory Lane Incorporated had closed an auction of 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle at $240,500. It was a graded sports card – PSA Mint 9.

9. 1933 Goudey #106 Nap Lajoie

This 1933 Goudey #106 Napoleon Lajoie card is considered as one of the great rarities of all sports trading cards. The first issue of the 1933 Goudey set of cards did not include the #106 card. Customers demanded for the missing card to complete the set. This led to producing the Nap Lajoie in 1934 and these were mailed to the complaining card collecting customers. Aside that the 1933 Goudey #106 is rare, it is also difficult to locate it in good condition (some of the cards were paper clipped during mailing which resulted to ugly wrinkles on the card).

A high-graded card from this set, therefore, is highly expensive. During the Mastro Auctions in 2006, a 1933 Goudey #106 Nap Lajoie PSA mint 9 had a final price of $141, 281.

10. 1909 T206 #366 Honus Wagner

No card in baseball and all sports trading card history had yet to surpass the importance of a 1909 T206 #366 Honus Wagner sports card. It is considered “The Holy Grail”, “The Mona Lisa”, or the most valuable baseball card. It is very expensive that even a Honus card with the lowest grade of 1 (poor condition, with wrinkles and signs of wear) was sold for $300,000 in 2008.

This vintage sports card produced by The American Tobacco Company had been the most-sought after among serious sports hobbyists. Considered to be very scarce, it is said that only 50-60 specimens of this Honus Wagner vintage sports card exist (and not all of them are in collectible condition).

This was because the production of the sports card in 1909 had been stopped in the demand of Wagner himself. Some say he did not want his name to be associated with the use of tobacco, especially that he had children supporters. On the contrary, other reports claim that the Wagner halted the production because he was not well-compensated for his appearance on the card.

Here is a list of the increasing values of this rare sports card, the 1909 T206 #366 Honus Wagner, through the years:

o 1930 $50

o 1985 $25,000

o 1987 $110,000

o 1991 $451,000

o 1995 $500,000

o 1996 $641,500

o 2000 $1,265,000

o 2007 (February) $2,350,000

o 2007 (September) $2,800,000

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